we have governments both large and small, the state of new york city dwovet -- government and so many others that are waiting to see if they will get some relief sew they can move tor ward with their plans. we beat back host of the crippling amendments. we beat back all of the crippling amendments an most of the amendments -- and most of the amendments. it's a very, very trying day, i think, for the senate. the century old tradition of different parts of the country rallying to help those that are beleaguered because of the difficult natural disasters continuing and the fact that 12 republicans voted for a bill that contain virtually no offsets except for the one amendment that passed last week. that is a full bill, a whole bill, a bill that gets new york and new jersey rapidly on the road to recovery fills us with hope that we can get something done and get something done quickly. when we press, when we explain to our colleagues what we needed and the desperation in here, they listened carefully. and we're really very, very glad about that. let me say a few specific things. there is